City Oilers lost their opening game of the season to Namuwongo Blazers but have since been on a good run of form. They are on a four-game winning streak and will be looking to stretch to five when they take on five-time league winners Power at the MTN Arena tonight.
Head Coach Mandy Juruni is impressed by the team’s current form despite some core players of the side struggling to hit the top. They have a 4-1 record and sit fifth on the 13-team log.
“We bounced back well and are having a good run since the loss,” Juruni told this publication. “We still have players who have not yet played to the expected levels and we have talked to them about this and read them the stats.
“We are still getting better as a team.”
Jimmy Enabu and James Okello are some of the players who have not engaged second gear yet.
New signings Ivan Lumanyika, Tony Drileba, Ruai Luak and Ivan Muhwezi have all put in a shift to see Oilers move up the table.
City Oilers’ Ivan Lumanyika runs the flow in a recent NBL game against UPDF. Photo/Ismail Kezaala
Power test
Against Power, Oilers will be favourites to register yet another victory but Juruni is aware of the challenge Bernice Ankunda’s charges can present. “Power has had a good run as well this season and they have players who have been in the league for a while and have the experience.
“We have to respect them and understand that we are facing a good team
“We will be up for it and as always we want to win.
Geoffrey Soro and Francis Kasinde, returnees to Power after spells away, have been the leaders of the team in the first games of the season and picked up Tusker Lite Player of the Game accolades.
A lot will have to be done though to stop Oilers Oilers tonight and improve their record from 5-2.
“We know that from now until the end of the regular season we will be playing many games in a short period of time,” Juruni noted.
“We have been getting ready and the players are happy to be back playing good basketball.”
City Oiler’s are potential champions over close rivals UCU Canons
City Oilers won an unprecedented seventh straight National Basketball League title after defeating UCU Canons, 72-57, in Game 7 at Lugogo Indoor Stadium.
Oilers controlled the opening quarter as they got out running and Landry Ndikumana went to work early in the game gliding at the baseline for jump hooks over the long hands of Titus Lual and Fadhil Chuma.
The City Oilers players celebrate having won the national championship in 2019 after defeating the UCU Canons. photo/ sportsnation
The champions extended the lead to double figures at the start of the second quarter but Canons, through David Deng, Lual and the backing of the majority of the capacity crowd in the Arena, rallied back running the floor to go into the halftime break trailing by just a point (27-26).
Canons matched Oilers shot-for-shot early in the third quarter, levelling the game four times but Nick Natuhereza’s charges turned over the ball twice deep in the frame proved costly and coupled with a poor shot selection in the half-court sets that led them into fouling, Oilers opened up an eight-point lead on which they built in the final quarter.
It was all composure and experience from the champions in the fourth quarter as they never allowed Canons to come closer than three points the rest of the way.
It might seem quite early with the ongoing regular season but the Oilers will keep building momentum to stretch them towards another title defence
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